Contents

The Interstellar Alliance is governed by a president who is nominated by the ruling council and is confirmed by all the member worlds of the Alliance. It is unclear as to the length of the term of the president of the Alliance, or whether there are limits to the number of times one person may hold the office of president.

It should be noted that the member worlds retain their own governments and leaders, such as the Earth president and the Centauri emperor, and the Interstellar Alliance president is not in a position of direct command over their internal affairs. The president acts, in many ways, as chief administrator who organizes and manages the various elements of the organization. In the larger context, the ISA acts as an umbrella under which members can collaborate on various issues as they relate to diplomacy, trade, exploration, humanitarian aid, and defending members and those who may ask for assistance against hostile powers and piracy.

ISA president John Sheridan was based on Babylon 5 until the end of 2262, when he took residence in the headquarters that had been constructed on Minbar over the course of that year.

The council acts as a cabinet to the president advising him on events, supported by functional officials such as the Director of Covert Intelligence and the head of the Anla'Shok along with temporary officials, such as Dr. Stephen Franklin's role as xenobiological research authority. Their other main role is nominating a new candidate for president when the current one decides to leave office.

With the Centauri withdrawing from the Alliance in 2262, the advisory board was composed of the President, the Vice President, Minbar’s representative, Narn's representative, and Earth's representative. Due to the makeup of the members, the board consisted of Sheridan, Delenn, and G'Kar. It is unknown if any other government joined the advisory board after the Centauri War or if the Centauri rejoined the board when Emperor Vir Cotto signed the Minbar Accord, bringing the Republic back into the Alliance in 2279.[2]

The ruling council of the Alliance is composed of ambassadors of the major powers of the Alliance and the former League of Non-Aligned Worlds. Delenn held a position as both ambassador of the Minbari and vice president of the Alliance, while Sheridan served as a representative of Earthgov as well as President of the Alliance. Contrary to the rules of the Babylon 5 Advisory Council that preceded the Alliance - wherein the major powers each received one vote while the League Worlds had one collective vote - each member of the IA Council has an equal vote and voice in the Alliance government.

Soon after the formation of the Alliance, it became clear that the Alliance needed an organization to keep track of what the various races were doing, and keep track of threats, in addition to the work of the Anla'Shok. President Sheridan selected former Babylon 5 Chief of Security Michael Garibaldi to form and head up this new organization. Garibaldi had resigned by the end of 2262 due to his drinking problem. He was succeeded by Tessa Halloran, former leader of the Mars Resistance.

The organization's main headquarters and administrative facilities are located in Tuzanor on Minbar, along with the residences of president and presumably other senior members of the ISA government and cabinet. Security for the members of government who reside here is provided by the Rangers, who serve as a protection detail to the president and staff. Additionally, the president's residence seems to either adjoin or is very close to the central administrative buildings. Along with the president's home and office, ISA headquarters initially incorporated an Embassy of the Martian Provisional Government so as to allow the new government on Mars to have a clearing house for their own currency and documentation and avoid bureaucratic difficulties within the Earth Alliance. Whether or not other governments have embassies on Minbar is unclear; however it seems likely that other governments would establish an administrative presence there in order to facilitate easier, more direct diplomatic relations and/or coordination of resources for joint projects. Additionally, the ISA Headquarters is home to Rangers as the Ranger One is based here along with the Rangers' training and recruitment facilities.

The ISA commands a combined military force made up of its member worlds, but only in conflicts that are threats to the whole of the Alliance. In the first major conflict in its history, the principle members supplying the majority of the force were the Earth Alliance, the Minbari Federation, the Narn Regime, the Drazi Freehold, and the Brakiri Syndicracy.[3] The member governments must vote the IA president the authority to command the military elements of the sovereign worlds.

The independent military force of the IA consists of the members of the Anla'Shok.

Since the inception of the Alliance, the Anla'Shok (English translation: "Rangers") have been a vital part of it, acting as the ISA's interstellar police force, intelligence-gathering mechanism, and principle military force. The leader of the Anla'Shok reports to the IA president, directing the Rangers per the president's orders. The president and the IA Council are bound to recognize the independent authority of the Rangers, stemming from a thousand years of Minbari tradition in the order.

At its formation, membership in the Alliance was offered to every major power, as well as to all members of the League of Non-Aligned Worlds. Before becoming a fully-fledged member, each new member must agree to abide by and uphold the Alliance's Declaration of Principles. Each member world or race assigns an ambassador to the Alliance, where they act as a legislative body who may demand explanations and other actions from the president of the ISA.

The ISA is a rather liberal organization, as they respect their member worlds' rights to freedom of speech, travel, religion, and self-government. These rights are demonstrated in this prototype of the final declaration of principles. After this declaration was signed unanimously G'Kar, the author, produced another, better version.

The Universe speaks in many languages, but only one voice.
The language is not Narn, or Human,
or Centauri, or Gaim or Minbari.
It speaks in the language of hope
it speaks in the language of trust
it speaks in the language of strength and
the language of compassion.
It is the language of the heart and
the language of the soul.
But always, it is the same voice.
It is the voice of our ancestors, speaking through us
and the voice of our inheritors, waiting to be born.
It is the small, still voice that says
We are one.
No matter the blood; No matter the skin
No matter the world; No matter the star
We are one.
No matter the pain; No matter the darkness
No matter the loss; No matter the fear
We are one.
Here, gathered together in common cause.
We agree to recognize this singular truth
That we are one
and this singular rule
That we must be kind to one another
Because each voice enriches us and ennobles us
and each voice lost diminishes us.
We are the voice of the Universe
the soul of creation
the fire that will light the way to a better future.
We are one.
We are one.
——————————————————————————————————DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES
CITIZEN G'KAR

The roots of the Interstellar Alliance grew out of Human (mostly those working on Babylon 5) and alien cooperation against the Shadows. At first, intelligence was shared among participating members, the joint military operations were formed, and telepaths (mostly non-humans, due to the affiliations of the human Psi Corps) were employed to disrupt Shadow technology. Afterwards, when the allies became less cooperative or flexible about working together, Sheridan began taking extraordinary steps [6] to get them to demand White Star protection of their respective frontiers. This, along with a later agreement to join forces against the increasingly hostile Earth Alliance, set the stage for a new alliance of worlds. Following the overthrow of EA President Morgan Clark, Earth joined the Interstellar Alliance.

In its first year, the Alliance was beset with the problem of holding together races that were normally used to suspecting and competing with each other, along with other problems ranging from the sharing of technology to trade. But the new government's greatest first-year trial started with something relatively minor: attacks by parties unknown on shipping from worlds belonging to the Alliance. Originally believed to be the work of Raiders, it was soon discovered that the Centauri were behind the attacks, and war soon broke out. Although relatively brief, the war caused severe damage, resulting in the Centauri withdrawing from the ISA for almost two decades. In 2267, the ISA provided the Earth Alliance with the Excalibur to help find a cure for the Drakhplague somewhere in deep space.

The Interstellar Alliance survived and fulfilled its duties for well over one million years after its formation, with the names of all major players in the ISA's creation remembered and even revered throughout this time. By this time the ISA had achieved mastery over organic technology, with some of its member races evolving beyond the need for physical bodies, becoming beings of pure energy similar to the Vorlons.[7]